Proud of the House We Built
by laurah2215
Summary: Pairing: CJ/Danny; Series: The Concannon's:Present, Past and Future; Story # 12;Noah takes pride in his family.


Title: Proud of the House We Built

Title: Proud of the House We Built  
Series: The Concannon's Present, Past and Future  
Author: Laura H  
Rating-Teen to adult  
Disclaimer: Honestly? We've through this long enough to know I'm not making a penny. And no, the song by Brooks and Dunn isn't mine, either.  
Synopsis:  
Notes: One more teensie-weensie story. I need stress relief, and if I continue to use booze I'll have a much bigger problem.  
Story 1-I Loved Her First  
Story2- Just Another Day in Paradise  
Story 3: My Little Girl  
Story 4:Chivalry Isn't Dead  
Story 5:He's Just Sensitive  
Story 6: The Hardest Conversation Ever  
Story 7: Letting Go  
Story 8: Getting Good at New Things  
Story 9: Where We Need to Be  
Story 10: Always Loved By Me You're Gonna Be  
Story 11: Endings and Beginnings  
Story 12: Proud of the House We Built

Timeline  
Nov 2006- CJ and Danny finally see what they've been missing for eight years.  
Jan 2007- CJ and Danny move to California together. CJ becomes President of the Hollis Foundation. Danny begins writing Josiah Bartlet's biography.  
July 2007-CJ and Danny get married at the Bartlet farm and conceive Abigail during their honeymoon in Ireland.  
Sept 2007- Danny starts school to finish his doctorate  
Feb 2008- Abigail is born  
March 2009-Patrick is born.  
January 2011:" Story 5-He's Just Sensitive"  
Sept 2013:Story 2-"Just Another Day in Paradise"  
Nov 2013- February 2014: Story 3- "My Little Girl"  
June 2021: Story 4- "Chivalry Isn't Dead"  
Jan 2025:Story 6-"The Hardest Conversation Ever"  
March 2025: Story 7- "Letting Go"  
June 2029-Story 11 "Endings and Beginnings"  
May 2032: Story 1-Abigail's wedding- "I Loved Her First"  
July 2032: Story 8- "Getting Good at New Things"  
September 2032: Story 9-"Where We Need to Be"  
January 2033: Story 10-"Always Loved By Me You're Gonna Be  
July 2033: Story 12- "Proud of the House We Built"

Asked you to marry me, all I had to give was my heart.  
While other kids went diving into swimming holes,  
You and me dove off into the great unknown.  
We were barely gettin' by, takin' care of each other.  
Then I became a daddy; you became a mother.  
Was an uphill battle nearly every day,  
Lookin' back I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm proud of the house we built.  
It's stronger than sticks, stones, and steel.  
It's not a big place sittin' up high on some hill.  
A lot of things will come and go but love never will.  
Oh, I'm proud.  
I'm proud of the house we built.

Still workin' our way through the land of milk and honey.  
At the end of the day there's always more bills than money.  
I close my eyes at night and I still feel  
The same fire in my heart I felt out in that hill

"Hey, Noah," calls Gord Colbert, a colleague of Noah's in the legislative liaison department in the White House. He approaches Noah's small desk and watches as Noah stuffs a couple files and his laptop into his briefcase.

"Hey. What's up?" Noah inquires distractedly.

"Randy, Terry, Hally and I are heading to the Tap House. Do you wanna grab a drink with us or do you have to go home?" Gord asks, already anticipating the likely answer. Noah hasn't been out for a drink after work in seven months.

"That would be nice, but I really gotta get home. I haven't had dinner with Abbey and Jordan all week. And my parents are taking Jordan tonight so Abbey and I can go out." Noah grimaces, but truthfully he'd rather go to dinner with Abbey than go drinking with his single co-workers. Since Abbey stopped breast-feeding, they had been able to go out on a date every week or two and leave the little girl in the competent care of her grandparents for a night. But hectic work schedules and an ear infection Jordan contracted a month ago impeded their routine, so they haven't been out together in six or seven weeks. His colleagues simply can't understand what it's like to be twenty-five with a wife and infant daughter.

Smiling down at the numerous pictures on Noah's desk of Abbey and their precious little baby, Gord nods. " I understand. Just thought I'd invite you, anyway. You're always welcome."

"Thanks," Noah smiles gratefully. " I better get going. Have a good time and see you Monday."

"You're late," Abbey declares as she pulls the front door open for Noah.

Noah's brows rise and he smiles. " Hello to you, too. How was your day?"

Rolling her eyes, Abbey visibly abandons her adversarial tone." Fine. I was just expecting you earlier."

Noah leans forward, takes Abbey's hands and kisses her softly. "I'm sorry. I got hung up. But I'm gonna make it up to you. And by the way, you look incredible. Is Jordan asleep?" Noah leans back to examine Abbey in a classic black skirt and sleeveless low-cut top.

"Probably. I don't know because your parents picked her up forty-five minutes ago." Abbey shrugs, taking Noah's Tupperware containers from his briefcase into the kitchen.

"Oh, damn. I was hoping to see my girl before they took her," Noah pouts, following Abbey.

Turning around after placing the containers in the dishwasher, Abbey offers a sympathetic frown. " I know. But we'll go get her tomorrow. We can have a lazy morning in bed, get some stuff done around the house and then go have dinner at my parents. Your mom asked if she could keep Jordan until dinner time because a couple of her girlfriends are coming for tea and she wants to show off Jordan."

Noah frowns in disappointment. " That sucks. I wish you hadn't said yes. Our parents get Jordan all day through the week while we're at work. And half the time she's sleeping by the time I get home from work. Sunday is the only full day of the week that I get with her."

Abbey's expression is somewhere between empathy and helplessness. They've had this discussion a hundred times and have yet to come up with a solution to satisfy Noah by allowing him more time with their daughter. "What do you want me to do, Noah? A few weeks ago you were complaining that we don't get enough time alone together. If I had have told your mother 'no' then we wouldn't have tomorrow to ourselves. You can't have it both ways at the same time."

Nodding dejectedly, Noah sighs. " I know. I just wish I could have more time with you both."

" I know," Abbey assures. She steps forward and wraps both arms around Noah's neck. "But you've got me now and you promised me dinner. So go clean up and let's get going."

That instantly ignites Noah's mood.

"Hey. Where's my princess?" Noah calls out with loving emotion the instant they step into the Concannon's home.

"Hi, Dad," greets Abbey as she closes the front door behind her and watches Danny cross the foyer with Jordan in his arms.

"Hey, princess. Were you a good girl for Nana and Papa Lyman last night?" Noah takes a grinning Jordan into his arms. That smile, next to Abbey's, is the most beautiful thing in his world.

"She was an angel as usual," Donna states, walking into the foyer with CJ and Josh behind her.

"Don't lie. She had you pulling your hair out," teases Abbey good-naturedly, placing a kiss to Jordan's light red curls.

"She's the reason why Danny and Josh have grey, thinning hair," CJ jokes in way of revelation.

"Hey!" Danny interjects. "That's not true. Abbey and PJ gave me most of my greys."

"Can't you discourage her from this whole crawling thing? It was so much easier a couple months ago." Josh plays along with the banter as the group heads into the living room to enjoy their weekly dinner together.

" I think we're gonna get going," Abbey announces, setting the empty tea cups on the kitchen counter.

"All right. You're sure?" CJ recommences loading the dishwater while Donna wipes down the counter and puts leftovers into a container for Noah and Abbey to take home.

"Yeah. Noah wants to play with Jordan and give her a bath before bed. He's hardly seen her all week." With a sigh, Abbey hangs her head. "It's just frustrating. We miss so much when we're at work, especially Noah."

Nodding with a frown, CJ sympathizes. " I know, honey. But you're both doing a great job with her and the time you do spend with her is very valuable. It isn't easy having a young family, but you both have every reason to be incredibly proud of how you're handling it."

"That's right," Donna agrees. "We're just the grandparents. You and Noah are raising Jordan and you're doing a wonderful job. It's so obvious how much you love and adore her."

"I just hope it's enough," Abbey whispers airily.

"Honey, we know exactly what you're going through." CJ takes a seat at the small table in the kitchen beside Abbey. "Even though working for the Hollis Foundation wasn't exactly as time-consuming as the White House, there were numerous occasions when we didn't feel like we were around enough for you and PJ. When your dad got a job teaching, he couldn't take care of you all the time. I had to take you to the Hollis company day-care. PJ was agitated and angry for months and we had to get him a psychologist . You refused to talk to Dad for a week when he started work. You both felt so abandoned, and we felt terrible. When you were too little to travel with us, we would fly to Africa for a week or ten days and we had to leave you with Nana. It all just broke our hearts. Every time one of you got sick and we had something really important at work that we couldn't get out of, we'd feel so guilty that we couldn't stay home and nurse you back to health."

"So you're saying we'll always be too busy to be good parents?" Abbey raises her brows.

CJ narrows her gaze. " Are you saying we weren't good parents?"

"Of course not," Abbey rolls her eyes. " If you weren't we wouldn't be asking you to take care of Jordan. You were great."

Leaning back, CJ smiles lightly. "And so will you and Noah be, despite your jobs. You had pretty good role-models. And one day when that little girl grows up to be a happy, independent young woman, you'll know that you've done a successful job raising a child with good values."

"Okay, kidlet. You ready to go home?" Noah starts packing Jordan's soft book, big bouncy ball, plush elephant and "Winnie the Pooh" play-set. CJ and Danny (as well as Josh and Donna) have toys,food, clothes and diapers at their house for Jordan when they baby-sit, so Abbey and Noah only have to bring a small backpack with Jordan. Jordan crawls into Noah's lap and he hugs her close. "Daddy misses you so much." Noah's never ashamed to express his fatherly affection in-front of his father and Danny because they've both been doting fathers and understand his feelings completely.

"You guys are leaving?" Danny inquires from his place on the loveseat in the den.

"Yeah," Noah exhales, bringing himself to a standing position. "I wanna go through Jordan's bedtime routine with her tonight since it's always Abbey doing it during the week. It's just been so busy at work that I haven't made it home before eight in the last couple weeks. I hate missing everything. I missed the first time she lifted her head, the first time she rolled over, the first time she crawled. I bet I'll miss her first word, the first time she walks and every other milestone in her life." He doesn't want to be negative or dejected, but sometimes he can't help but wish he had a job with normal hours. Naturally he rationalizes that he needs his job if he ever wants to have a high-ranking position within the federal government.

"You're not gonna miss everything," Danny offers in support. "She loves you so much and you'll always be important to her."

"That's right," Josh nods in agreement. "You're doing the best you can and you and Abbey should be very proud of yourselves. You've got good jobs in very impressive career trajectories; you've built a nice, safe home for your family; and you're raising a beautiful, sweet little girl and managing to maintain a strong, loving marriage at the same time."

"It'll probably always feel like you're not doing enough for your family." Danny smiles and exhales at Noah's horrified look. He didn't mean to startle the young man even more. "I mean, it's perfectly natural. But when you see your kids all grown up into self-sufficient, happy adults with families and jobs of their own, you'll know that you must have done something right. You'll know, hopefully long before Jordan's all grown- up, that you've raised her right, despite your feelings of inadequacy."

Sighing audibly and bobbing his head, Noah responds, "I hope you're right."

Josh, sensing Noah's resignation and gloom, changes the topic. "You've got the education bill coming up to vote soon, right?" Josh asks, standing up and following Noah out into the hall and foyer.

"Yep. We want the President to sign it, but Henderson and Jacobs are attaching major pork projects that he's really opposed to. Sometimes I just wish the Constitution would allow line-item vetoes."

The women come in from the kitchen to say their goodbyes.

"You got everything, honey?" Abbey asks as she takes Jordan's backpack from Noah. " We can't forget her elephant or she won't sleep well."

"I know. I didn't forget it, darling," Noah assures in a soothing voice with a dimply smile. Noah wraps the arm that isn't holding Jordan around Abbey and places a kiss to her temple.

" Don't forget your lunch for tomorrow." CJ hands Abbey the container of leftovers and leans in to kiss her cheek. She follows with kisses for Jordan and Noah. "We'll see you tomorrow morning."

Donna steps forward and hugs and kisses Abbey and Noah. She ruffles Jordan's fine, curly red hair and smothers her in kisses. "Have a good week. Call if you need anything."

"Bye, baby." Danny wraps his arms around Abbey and drops a kiss to her cheek. He bends down to kiss Jordan. " Bye, Jordi. Papa loves you. Come see us tomorrow." He turns to Noah with a smile." Take care of my girls."

"I'll always take care of my girls," Noah states firmly.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, you Neanderthals." Abbey teases light-heartedly. In truth, she understands why they feel the way they do. Her father's always been protective, especially after she was diagnosed with leukemia. Having had her mother and mother-in-law as examples of independent, successful women who could also share their lives with slightly big-headed husbands, Abbey is perfecting the delicate marital art of balancing her career and family.

" Of course you are, sweetie. We'll see you in a few days." Josh hugs his daughter-in-law and son before laying a raspberry to Jordan's cheek.

"Out like a baby," Noah pronounces, sauntering into the master-bedroom.

Abbey takes her reading glasses off and smiles up at Noah from under the covers. "Good work, honey."

Noah strips off his shorts and t-shirt and crawls over the bed. "When did she start sleeping with her pacifier and not a bottle?"

"She has her bottle before bed and her nummy in bed. I read an article about how bottles in bed can be bad for the teeth. So last week I started weaning her off the bottle in bed," explains Abbey. "I checked with my mom and your mom and they thought it was a good idea."

"But you didn't check with me," Noah says pointedly.

Sighing, Abbey moves her book to the nightstand. "I was going to, but there wasn't been a good time. Are you upset with me?"

"No," Noah shakes his head. "I just wish I didn't miss out so much."

"Oh, sweetheart…" pouts Abbey. She snuggles against Noah's chest. "It's okay. My mom was telling me earlier that she and my dad always felt like they weren't doing enough for us."

"Really? That's what your dad said to me. He said that it'll sometimes feel like that, but that some day we'd know we did the right thing. Maybe all parents go through this." Noah rubs circular patterns across Abbey's back.

"Yeah, that's right. And if our parents were busy and managed to spend enough time with us for us to know how loved we are, then maybe we'll be involved enough for Jordan to know that she is our world."

"We'll just have to be," declares Noah.

"I gotta say I'm glad and proud of this life we've made for ourselves," Abbey adds with emotion, squeezing Noah's torso affectionately and allowing her hands to wander across his bare chest.

"So you don' regret that I knocked you up?" Noah jokes.

"I could never regret having our baby girl," responds Abbey.

"Kay. Then let's practice making her a sibling," Noah breathes against Abbey's neck.

"We had plenty of 'practice' last night. Besides, we don't actually need practice seeing as I'm on the pill," Abbey replies as Noah's hands remove her sleep tank-top.

"Sure we do. Some day we're gonna want another little kidlet to totally throw our lives into a wonderful tailspin. We don't wanna be out of practice in the off-season." Noah trails his hand up Abbey's thigh and slides it down the waistband of her boxer shorts.

Exhaling contentedly and closing her eyes, Abbey grins. " That's true. We better work…harder."

I'm proud of the house we built.  
It's stronger than sticks, stones, and steel.  
It's not a big place sittin' up high on some hill.  
A lot of things will come and go but love never will.  
Oh, I'm proud.  
I'm proud of the house we built.

Oh, look at us today.  
Oh, we've come such a long long way.

I'm proud of the house we built.  
It's stronger than sticks, stones, and steel.  
It's not a big place sittin' up high on some hill.  
A lot of things will come and go but love never will.  
Oh, I'm proud.  
I'm proud of the house we built.


End file.
